1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a light-pointing device and a light-tracking receiver having function selection keys and a system using the same, and more particularly, to a system that controls a cursor and selects the desired function with non-contact light spots.
2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 37 CFR 1.98.
Currently, a pointing device (e.g., a roller ball mouse, an optical mouse, and the like) tracks the position of a target (or a cursor) based on sensing a relative movement between its input interface and a contact surface. When a common roller ball mouse moves on a surface, the roller ball inside the mouse can rotate and drive a set of optical encoders, which compute the number of steps of the movement along the X direction and the Y direction simultaneously. According to the information on the number of the steps, a computer can determine a movement vector of the cursor relative to its coordinates of a previous location during each frame period. Additionally, the optical mouse uses an image sensor to capture the surface's images that consecutively change, and compares the images to calculate the movement of the current cursor relative to its previous location.
In addition, another non-contact pointing device is designed to control a TV game or to turn the pages of an e-book shown on a TV screen. Such a pointing device emits an infrared light beam to control the movement of a target or a cursor on a frame. Actually, a light receiver having a motion-tracking sensor is disposed at a place adjacent to the screen where the frame is displayed. When a user moves the pointing device, the motion-tracking sensor capturing the images of a plurality of frames per second can receive a continuous dotted pattern of the movement of the infrared light beam. Therefore, the light receiver can compare different coordinates of the dotted pattern occurring in each frame, and it instantly modifies the current location of the target or the cursor on the screen.
However, the pointing device can only control the displayed location of a target or a cursor, but cannot satisfy the requirements for function selections (e.g., clicking a functional icon or a page-turning button on the screen) of a TV game or an e-book. Consequently, in the current TV game market, a light-pointing and receiving system capable of both controlling the location of the cursor and enabling interactive function selections is urgently needed to improve the real-time and interactive entertainment effect of TV game apparatuses and e-books.